TOOLS Finland Oy is part of the Swedish MOMENTUM GROUP AB, the largest provider of industrial consumables, components, and related services in northern Europe. At its distribution center in Kotka, Finland's largest port of export, approximately 21,000 small parts are continually stocked and prepared for shipping over an area of 26,000 square meters.

Project Requirements

In 2016, TOOLS Finland Oy made the decision to carry out the extensive reorganization of its distribution processes at the Kotka site. High-density warehousing and the picking of low-volume items in the smallest space was intended to result in a sharp increase in picking performance of 40 percent across all lines. The centerpiece of this new arrangement is the goods-to-person principle based around four LOGIMAT® Vertical Lift Modules. The provision of the required picking and transport bins with customer logo already attached also formed part of the scope of SSI SCHAEFER's services.

Goals:

Sharp 40% increase in picking performance across all lines

Securing the leading market position through optimization of the quality of supply

Spare parts logistics: efficient storage of small parts

Optimum utilization of the available storage space through automatic

consolidation of the stored goods combined with intelligent height optimization

Integration of the lift modules in the available infrastructure with a connection to the customer's own warehouse management system

Functional enhancement options and connection to conveying sections if required

SYSTEM SOLUTION AND COMPONENTS

SSI SCHAEFER Solution at a glance

SSI SCHAEFER SYSTEM SOLUTION AND COMPONENTS

At the end of 2016, the specialists from SSI SCHAEFER installed the four LOGIMAT® Vertical Lift Modules at TOOLS Finland Oy, including a connection to the warehouse management system of the local third-party supplier. The lift modules commissioned at the start of 2017 are approximately 9.8 meters high, 4.5 meters wide, and 3 meters deep. They contain a total of roughly 6,800 small parts, such as hand tools, nuts, and bolts, which are distributed over 70 trays each with a maximum load of up to 450 kilograms. This stock stored over only 54 square meters of horizontal space makes up about 30 percent of the total range of items available in Kotka. Thanks to the compact design of the lift modules, the full height of the room and entire storage area are now being used as efficiently as possible.

The intralogistics specialists also provided 16,000 EF-series plastic bins in three varying dimensions (euro dimensions 2120, 3170, and 4170), complete with the TOOLS logo, that are carried along on trollies during picking. Only one employee is required to operate each LOGIMAT®. The concept therefore also frees up personnel resources that can now be deployed in other areas.

OPTION PACKAGES OPTIMIZE ERGONOMICS, SPEED, AND EFFICIENCY

Three Option packages to optimize the Warehouse

Option packages optimize ergonomics, speed, and efficiency

To achieve the goal of a sharp 40% increase in picking performance, TOOLS Finland Oy also uses three pre-configured option packages, which further optimize the system in terms of ergonomics, speed, and efficiency requirements. These include the LOGIPOINTER, a laser pointer system for optical indication of the picking compartments, and LOGIBAR, a continuous confirmation light barrier under the operating opening of the LOGIMAT® for confirming removal of the goods – two functions that reduce travel times and therefore ensure an increase in productivity. Another option is LOGIPOWER, a drive with increased movement speed, which further reduces access times during the picking process.

LOGIPOINTER: Optical indication of the picking compartment using a laser pointer

LOGIBAR:Continuous confirmation light barrier under the operating opening for optimizing the picking performance

LOGIPOWER: Drive with increased movement speed for reducing access times during picking

WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAY

"In March, we already achieved a new record for the total number of lines, with a figure of 48,000 order lines. This met our requirements of increasing the picking performance by around 40 percent with the aid of the lift modules combined with the warehouse management system."Semi HurttaWarehouse Manager at TOOLS Finland Oy